Listed here is a very attractive silver plated cavalry rosette which was dug on private land around Beaver Dam Station on the Virginia Central Rail Road in Hanover County Virginia. It has a heavy silver plating on the front with no hooks remaining on the back. It is in great overall condition with a fine rope border. This will be a great looking addition to your Cavalry or Civil War Relic Collection. 

I recently purchased the rosette from Michael Rasmussen of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mike is a long time digger and collector of Civil War artifacts. He dug this piece quite a few years ago. I will include a hand signed letter by me stating the provenance for this relic.

On May 8, 1864 after the Battle of the Wilderness, Major General Sheridan received permission to engage Maj. General J.E.B. Stuart and the Confederate Cavalry. General George Custer and the Michigan Cavalry Brigade led the advance. It was at Beaver Station that Custer found "three trains and two first class locomotives along with Union Soldiers who had been recently captured at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania". Custer's troopers quickly overwhelmed the Confederate guards and took control of the Rail Station. They destroyed the rail station along with train cars and a large amount of supplies. They also tore up several miles of railroad track.

There is a good possibility this rosette was lost by one of Custer's troopers during the action at Beaver Dam Station on May 8, 1864. My Uncle Henry McKinstry served with the 5th Michigan Cavlary regiment and was one of the troopers who was involved in the destruction of the railroad and releasing of the captured soldiers at Beaver Station.